Extraction of solid material is traditionally performed by standard techniques such as a soxhlet extraction. The soxhlet method proceeds by iterative percolation of the sample to be extracted with recondensed vapors of solvent. This method is one of the most used techniques for extraction. Since this process can be quite lengthy, new methods using microwave radiation have been developed.
A fast extraction is specifically of interest if the amount of a specific compound, for example fat, within solid material, for example within food or other materials, has to be determined. So far, even when using microwave-assisted extraction, a fast extraction still is difficult.
The prior art methods are therefore limited in terms of efficiency and rapidity.
In view of the above, there is thus a need to provide an improved microwave-assisted extraction process which overcomes at least some limitations of the known processes.